Words
by Vanilla Coated Love
Summary: 7. A girl, a boy and an abusive relative put them all together and you have a two thousand-word story.


**Words**

**by Vanilla Coated Love**

**A girl, a boy and an abusive relative put them all together and you have a two thousand-word story.**

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><p><em>What are words<br>If you really don't mean them  
>When you say them<br>What are words  
>If they're only for good times<br>Then they don't  
>When it's love<br>Yeah, you say them out loud  
>Those words, They never go away<br>They live on, even when we're gone_

_-What are Words; Chris Medina_

**Natsume Hyuuga**

I didn't know what actually happened. All I know was that I am the one to blame. We were fine a few months back. Our relationship was steady, it was okay. We were both happy.

Or so I thought.

I've known her ever since we were in elementary. Her chocolate brown eyes which I loved, always looking at me with care. Her beautiful smile, it's just wow. Her sweet personality; she cared for others more than she cared of yourself, you know. Her small hands that fit perfectly with mine.

You'd think that it was puppy love or love at first sight, but it's not.

Trust me, I hated her at first.

I really hated her.

The first time I saw her, it was hate at first sight.

The girl who was always putting her hair up in pigtails and with her high and annoying.; always greeting me a, "Good morning, Natsume!"

Who in the world would like that? Every day she does this. She talked none stop, especially with her geeky best friend who doesn't give a damn what she's saying. My ears were practically bleeding by the end of the day. God.

We were ten years old then.

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><p>If you want to know how I got her, I know you want to know, well, I'll tell it to you now… I have no idea.<p>

How'd I know that she was important to me?

I have no idea.

All I know that it happened when we were fourteen.

For quite some time I distanced myself to her. She was everyone's friend, except, I guess, for me. It's not like she wanted the attention. That's just the way she is, her aura's like that. She wasn't like those other bitches in the academy. She wasn't fake and everyone knew that.

I was walking to my tree, my sakura tree, only to find out that somebody was already there. Yes, the famous brunette was there.

Something was wrong, of course.

I was a few steps away from the said tree when I heard it.

A sob.

She was crying.

I had two choices at that time. I could leave and ignore her or I could take a chance, take a risk, and go towards her.

Trust me; my next decision practically changed everything, starting from that day. Because it was then I walked to the direction of the tree, to the direction where the girl with the annoying voice cried.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?" I found myself asking her.

It was obvious that she was surprised by my presence; she practically jumped when she heard my voice. The girl wiped her tears and gave a fake laugh, "I should be asking you that."

"I always cut class." I said as I leaned my back to the tree's trunk.

"Right. The famous Natsume Hyuuga who even though always cuts class gets the highest scores during finals."

She looked up to me with her big brown eyes, they were still red from the crying but she was smiling.

"What are you trying to imply, little girl?" I asked.

She hugged her knees tightly, "I have a name, you know."

I raised an eyebrow, "Little girl is better."

"It's not." She paused, "And plus, I'm no longer a little girl."

"You're smaller than me, way smaller."

She sighed, "I don't know why you have name problems, Natsume."

"And I don't know why you're acting like you weren't crying just a few minutes ago." I retorted.

Wrong move. That wasn't a good thing to say.

At first, I thought that she would run off or yell at me for being rude to her but she just had to surprise me.

"Just don't forget. My name's Mikan. Mikan Sakura." She shrugged, stood up and fixed her skirt. "C'mon let's go to class. The others might be wondering where we are already."

I stared at her, "You're not really going to tell me why you were crying?"

She bit her lower lip and sighed, "It's a family thing."

Before I could say anything else she grabbed hold of my left hand, "Let's not talk about it, okay? C'mon, we really have to go to class."

Then I let her drag me, her hand holding mine.

Her chocolate brown eyes. Her beautiful smile. Her sweet personality; the way she cared for others. Her small hands that fit perfectly with mine.

This wasn't the hyper, annoying girl that I knew back in the elementary. Gone was the girl with the pigtails.

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><p>My point of view on her changed that day, and I think you know what that meant.<p>

After that, we always talked. Well, she talked while I listened. She told me everything, from how her day started and how it ended. I'd always find her in our sakura tree, it was no longer mine; it was ours.

"Remember three years ago?" She asked the summer when we were fifteen.

"What about it?"

"When we were asked to tell something about our parents, our family." She continued.

I didn't say anything. Of course I remember that day.

"They were teasing me that I was weird and a loser 'cause I was an orphan, that I don't even have parents so I might as well not participate in the activity. And that I leave with a distant relative and all that." The brunette said.

It was hard for her talking about it, her parents died before she even got in the academy and I heard that she was living with her uncle or something.

She tucked her hair behind her ear, "I just want to thank you for what you did."

"I only told them to fuck off. It's no big deal."

She laughed, "Well, it wasn't everyday that a twelve year old would say 'fuck off', right?"

I grinned, "Point taken."

We became close friends, can you imagine me being friends with her? Ha. And I was sure that I felt something for with that girl.

I learned to love her voice when we talked. When she told a story I really listened. I was captivated. Gone was the girl with the high and annoying voice.

Want to know the cool part? It's that when a year after this conversation, when I finally had the guts to tell her what I really feel, when I told her that I loved her, she replied with a smiling face and said, "I love you too." right underneath our sakura tree.

We were sixteen then.

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><p>There are just some things in life that just happen, this is one of them. Things that were never planned. And when it does it goes on smoothly, and you think that everything is perfect and when you do that's when things start to fall apart.<p>

We were supposed to watch a movie but my mom was sick. I called Mikan to tell her that I might be late and that I have to go to my mom's place, but being the angel that she is she said that I should just stay with my mom.

"It's okay, really." She persisted, I heard her giggle at the other end of the line. "You have to take care of your mom. I understand that."

"But-"

"No buts, Natsume."

"Mikan." I said.

"Now he calls me by my name." I heard her sigh, "I mean it. I'm totally cool with this. I won't cry over this because it's our seventh anniversary. I'm not like the other girls."

Surely, she wasn't like the other girls.

I was stupid to even agree with her. Because if only I knew…if only I knew that that would be our last conversation, I would have gone with her to the movies, if only mom wasn't sick that day, probably, I would have prevented the events that happened afterwards.

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><p>I was in the hospital before the sun even rose the next day.<p>

It was so obvious. The signs were there but I overlooked them. Back when we were twelve and when I saw her crying when we were fourteen.

Her uncle was drunk that night, the neighbors told me. He was always like that but he never hurt Mikan. Not since last night. She was waiting for her uncle as usual; he was staying at her place now. Mikan thought that it was her turn to take care of him, when he barged in the house all angry and drunk because he lost a bet. Mikan tried to calm him down but it only made things worse next thing she knew, Mikan's uncle had his hands around her neck.

The neighbors found her fragile body a little while after and they called the cops.

She was rushed to the hospital on time. Thank, God.

But when she woke up the day after…

Gone was the girl with the voice that had so many stories to tell.

Her voice box was damaged. No. Not damaged. It was broken. The doctors said that she'll be like that from now on. There was nothing more that they could do.

I fought back tears when I heard the doctor's words. I could blame Mikan's uncle but in some ways, I can also blame myself. In some ways, this is also my fault.

At the end of the room, Imai, her best friend, said, "She's looking for you."

She was at her hospital bed with a pen and paper on hand. I sat down at the chair right next to the table and she gave me the note with a smile on her face.

I couldn't help but smile.

Gone was the girl with the pigtails.

Gone was the girl with the high and annoying voice.

Gone was the girl with the voice that had so many stories to tell.

But here is the girl who never gives up, who never forgets to say thank you, sorry, and I love you. Here is the girl whom I'll always be with no matter what happens. The same girl who I know ever since elementary. Things did change, but some things still stayed the same.

I read the note once more,

_I don't need words to tell you how much I love you._

Now, I'll be the one talking while she'll be the one listening.

We were twenty three then.

**THE END**

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><p><strong>We talked about mute people (individuals who couldn't or can't talk) over dinner the other day, that's when a plot suddenly popped inside my head. And I just had to write this.<strong>

**Thank you for reading.**

**-VCL 7/24/2011 2:17 AM**


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